I don't get to listen to entire shows in one sitting much anymore but gave this one a spin on the patio this weekend. Good golly. It brought me through every emotion, like I went through an entire life cycle. I can now say that I fully appreciate this !masterpiece. Almost too good of a show to be true.

China Cat and Morning Dew are superb.

PITB starts us off on the right foot, with a great tone and tempo! The jam maintains the tempo, and Jerry is using a gain heavy wah wah tone that kicks my ass three ways from Wednesday. This is basically as long as one you would find in the power slot in the 80s, and just as intense as you could want. A+ PITB.
Sugaree keeps a good tempo, which is always a plus. Certain songs worry me, but when they are pulled off I love them, Sugaree is near the top of that list.
Mr. Charlie is corny.
BTW, they take some chances in here. Sometimes it works, sometimes it sounds sloppy, but I appreciate the attempt personally, as a big fan of this song, but a little disturbed by its frequent appearances in this period.
Deal, solid early effort.
Chinatown Shuffle
Mexicali is fun.
China>Rider - China Cat is great, with some Phil bombs strategically placed for emphasis. The transition started off energetic, Bob takes the first steps into Rider, and the rest of the team shifts over slowly, which hurt the momentum. Jerry does a riff that is Riderish/ABB-ish. The vocals are full blown folk harmony.
Hurts Me Too was painful.
BIODTL
BEW was fun.
Jack Straw has a great tempo from the start! The playing is technically perfect, and Bob doesn't get overzealous in the vox department.
Big RR is ripsnorting fun!
Good Lovin' maintains the nice energy as we work our way through the traditional verses, with some nice Jerry solos in there. The largely slow rap isn't drawn out, but the return to the theme was still welcome.
Casey Jones caps off the set in typical fashion.

Dew opens the second, and the set list variance is again appreciated. I love Dew as a set opener, personally, though it precludes the crashdown to ending a long meat sequence later. Great version on our hands here, with Phil bombs bringing in the first solo around the 5 minute mark! He keeps the enemy's heads low while Jerry strafes the runway. The finale jam is great, though it doesn't crash down, it just stops for Jerry's final "anywaaaay"...
MAMU comes out of the corral bucking and wild.
Stranger has some punctuating work by Keith and Jerry that is nice, but this song just drags on me.
El Paso, Jerry is a little lower key than I would like but the song is otherwise well performed with the ups and downs over the hilly landscape we would expect.
TN Jed, nothing to see here in particular.
Next Time You See Me
Dark Star>Drums>Dark Star>Sugar Magnolia>Caution>Who Do You Love>Jam>Truckin
The fabled Rotterdam Dark Star. It's been YEARS since I attempted to listen to it. So, I'm giving it a fair shot here. Starting off with a nice tempo. The jam turns into a storm as it leaves the main theme around 4:30 in, Phil and Billy pushing the tempo. Keith echoes Jerry, who slowed down the storm, bringing us back to a calm place. After the 6 minute mark we're back closer to the theme but getting quite mellow. In the 8th minute the jam becomes pretty incoherent, but Garcia brings it back together by the 9th, as he builds his way toward what I imagine will be the first verse before the drum solo. Instead the song just falls apart and Billy takes over without the verse. The drums solo goes into a Phil solo, which is short lived, and then a Jerry bit with Phil and Billy barely behind him. The verse follows a lengthy solo around 7 minutes in, and I barely even noticed because I was a bit bored, and then it goes into space. 13 minutes into this second DS track and nothing of interest has really occured, it would best be used as background music for a seance. Then, just as I lost all hope, Jerry starts to pick it up again, and may be headed for a Tiger. We get just that, and just after the 15th minute mark, Tiger still roaring, Phil starts with heavy melancholic bombs. Minutes later we are still in a fully chaotic place with lots of dark energy. Then in the 19th minute we head into somewhat of a Mountain Jam, then Phil messes with Bird Song but no one bites. The momentum slows a bit by the 22nd minute, though you can hear hints of the eventual Caution in there. One could argue the subsequent jam is a Caution themed jam, but as it never officially went into Caution yet that seems to have missed a lot of people's attention. After 27 in Phil clearly tries to go to Truckin, as does Bobby, but the rest of the band isn't taking it. This should not be considered a DS jam session, in my estimation, they did not return for the DS theme/final verse . I refuse to consider this a contiguous Dark Star, and therefore I do not accept its often touted lengthiness. Instead, Bobby realizes that someone has to make a decision, and he goes to his lovely Magnolia, as he was wont to do. He doesn't hold back on the Rock'n'fuckin'Roll here, forceful rendition. Phil stomps at the end, and the boys don't hesitate to bring the train on in for the FINAL Caution they would ever perform. Bobby finally gets his Truckin', to cap off the lengthy meat sequence! Fully energized version!
UJB

OMSN... for some reason my E72 version was missing this track!
_______________________________________________

Performance Summary
The first set is pretty rocking! There are a few stinkers (pigpen) in there, but other than that, a different, fun setlist for the era. The 2nd set, with the "longest Dark Star", is not the longest Dark Star... it's a whacked up dark star, sorry. It certainly sandwiches a long jam, and I give it credit for that. There is about 14 minutes of crap after the drums, before things get interesting, to boot. When they get interesting, they get really interesting, and it ends up awesome.

band is locked from the start. polished & precise but not tight. second set is what truly made me a believer.

This concert is amazingly good, probably the best from the tour (arguably). It also features a stellar Dark Star; as other have mentioned, it is cut into multiple tracks.

http://www.archive.org/details/DarkStar-

Above ^^ is a link to the entire darkstar as one track, no gaps.

Enjoy and keep on jammin!

in my opinion, the dead was a far better band when billy was sole drummer. this is a five-star session for every reason - no brainer. would you kick a pony in the face to end world hunger?

I love it, Pig sings it.....then after 45 minutes of Dark Star(s), Drums, Jams and a blistering-bleached-out Sugar Magnolia-SSDD, Pig returns with Caution and things most certainly, won't be the same.

Come on in, the water is fine.

Thanks to Cliff Hucker for his Europe '72 Notebook. I'm following the trail to prosperity.

I agree with GratefulSkeptic, and also purpletornado regarding the opening sound 'problems' on PITB.

Yeah, the 72 Europe tour was definitely a high-water mark. For some weird reason I have just listened to this show for the first time. I have maybe 90-95% of the tour, and I have to say that this one just might be the best of them all. Even though I'm an 'Other One' guy for this period, I really think this is my favorite show of the tour.

Indeed, they all brought their A-game. Wonder why these versions of JackStraw, Morning Dew, China->Rider weren't picked for "Europe 72"? Clearly superior. Phil on Morning Dew... unreal.

Everything written about the Dark Star is true. This is one remarkable Dead concert.

Tons of favorites here from this classic; HOT HOT versions of Deal, Big RXR Blues, MAMU, Tennessee Jed and probabaly the best Casey Jones of the tour (listen to Keith WAILING at the end).

One of the last great Pig shows- China Town Shuffle (on So Many Roads Boxset) Good lovin', Next Time You See Me are all tour highlight material as well.

And I won't add anything to cliff's description of this extraordinary dark star, other than to say it is what we listen to this band for...improvised music at its finest...this including the second set jams thru UJB is some of the best music the band did in '72...

My only quibble with this show is that i think this Morning Dew is kinda overrated. Not only is it sloppy, but there is a a bad flub at the end(possibly due to Weir's broken string?) that takes it down a bit for me. but this is nitpicking. this is a well played, high energy show for the most part, and one of the very finest (if not the best) of the tour. stream NOW

A monumental performance, this treasure might be the finest show of the entire tour, and includes one of the finest Dark Star performances of all time.

Every member of the band has brought their A game to Rotterdam, even Pigpen who shines every chance he gets. It's his last chance at Caution, and he makes the most of it, as well as giving a fine effort on Chinatown Shuffle. From the opening moments of the show it becomes apparent that this is going to be special, as the band launches into a dynamite version of Playin' in the Band. Though it only clocks in at 10+ minutes, and it's not as exploratory as the song would get in 1973, it's still a brilliant jazzy rendition as the band twists through the Main Ten theme. Virtually every song is very well played. Sugaree, Morning Dew and Good Lovin' are all fabulous performances.

But certainly all are eclipsed by a 45+ minute Dark Star which has to be considered an opus. At times it's so beautifully played that you might find yourself forgetting to breathe. It's an ultra jazzy odyssey that you must listen to in a quiet environment with no distractions in order to fully appreciate.

Singularly one of the finest moments in the bands history, this one soars right from the opening notes of the theme. 4:30 in, the band briefly locks in on a choppy riff before breaking down into jazzy space. Eventually Jerry steers the band into a quiet passage which eventually takes on a loose Let It Grow theme, Weir slashing in fills. At the 10 minute mark Jerry begins playing a repetitive scale, initating another extraordinary passage lasting untill the drum break. Right out of the drums Phil and Billy collaborate on a sublime Bird Song themed jam that is all too brief before Jerry joins them and gradually guides the jam back to the Dark Star theme and into the first verse. The eleven minute post verse space jam begins with a brilliant duet between Jerry and Phil before things get atonal, gradually building in intensity. The segment turns incredibly wild as Phil detonates an awesome series of explosions, Jerry continuing his attack. The final 11+ minute movement starts out with a fast paced and ultra jazzy passage before briefly aquiring a Caution type theme, Phil returning with a second bombing run. This is followed by another extremely intense Caution themed passage and screaming guitars. By now I imagine the fire alarms had to be going off at the Civic Hall. The concluding passage is beautifully Dylanesque with Pig's swirling organ and some eerie notes from Jerry, finally segueing into Sugar Magnolia.

Still there is more to come; a second jam suite featuring a blazing hot Caution> Who Do You Love> Truckin'> UJB. Is there a better performance on this tour? (100 pts)

Where to begin? Playin begins rather garbled before righting itself..nice n' jazzy - typical for 72. Stellar Morning Dew - Garcia's guitar dripping with emotion. Pigs in good rollicking form on Next Time You See Me-as good as any from 69-70. But the highlight is an EPIC Dark Star that brings tears to the eyes-one for the ages! The wonderful jam post-DS almost goes into Caution early but veers off into space. After a nice sugar mag- they swing into Caution for real and it swings with rare form. Reviewers here say its Pigs last and , if so, he went out with a real scorcher. just a touch of mojo hand...absolutely Perfect!

S'pose I'd best get booed for this one ~ but I was always pulled over by the Doors' Vox Continental organ, as compared (in all due respects) to Pigpen's Hammond B3.
... Until this version of 'Truckin' brought me around to appreciate what I'd never realized was missing. Deal, Chinatown Shuffle, Dark Star, Billy's solo and Uncle John's Band are stand outs of this quintessential performance that I have to keep coming back for seconds on, to find what more spelunking there is to this grubstaked gold mine. I'd wager even Dick himself kept his Pick for the great beyond stashed somewheres near abouts ...

Why does the archive breakup songs like Dark Star into sections when it is all one long song? It is annoying enough to have breaks in songs that go into one another but could we at least ask if we can hear this Dark Star, for example, in its entirety?

Songs like Lazy lightnin'-->Supplication should be done as one song. Is that too much to ask or are there some weird rules about how the shows are posted?

Exellent performance. A few technical problems at the begining but otherwise another fine remaster by Jay Ashley.

I have read many of the reviews and they mention Pigpen as a strong contributor to the success of this particular show. I agree whole heartedly. All of his offerings are wonderful, but Two Souls in Communion is off the charts. I cannot listen to it without getting emotional. It seems Pigpen is foreshadowing his own death as he sings so sadly about longing and regret. Jerry's solo is so heartfelt I am welling up just writing this. This song is definately the pinnacle of this show.

I've always loved the way this recording starts out. The sound starts out off with only Keith audible, and even then very distant. Then, almost one by one, everyone is dropped in and the levels get right. Bobby's vocals, Donna, Jerry's guitar, the first break comes and we're almost there. SThen, just as Bobby belts out "I can't stop for nothin', I'm just playin' in the band!" Phil come in and they are off and running. I'm getting goosebumps just typing this.

Turn this up LOUD.

In Germany, when someone is lucky, it is customary to say "Ich habe Schwein gehabt" which means "I have had pig." This tradition dates back to hard times, when if you had a pig to feed your family you were considered fortunate.

I feel very lucky that archive.org exists, and that I listened to this show--the elements that Pigpen adds are spectacular. Most notably, Good Lovin' and Caution>WDYL really shine. As for non-Pig the Dark Star (and associated jams) is one of the very best I have ever heard.

Very sad that Pig would not have much time left with us, but this was a virtuoso performance. Truly a monster show--you will definitely love it!!

A rough start recording wise, per, as usual, but settles out marvelously. Band=Well-played throughout.

Processing on this remaster doesn't mar overall impact in the slightest; rich, full sound.

Some classic individual performances by Blue Ron.

The music plays the band! Jerry once was asked how he plays Dark Star and he said it plays itself. This one is wound like a dissonant time-bending watch (Swiiss), that will take you on the trip of your life. Along with numerous examples of fantabulous DS's from '72, this one stands as a unique examplar for its vorascious improvisation and relentless glue holding it all together. WOW.

Europe 72 made me a deadhead. Sitting in some snowstorm, in an altered state of large proportions, listening to Europe 72. I was never the same after that. I love 73 and 74, but the way the band sounded in 72 is the most pure form of American music a person could listen to. I believe the Mr. Charlie here is the Europe 72 version, and the rest is all a guy needs in his CD rack.

Were the dead better with only Billy K on drums? Sometimes I think so.

And all of that from a hardcore 80's and 90's deadhead like myself.

This is a great show, and it would be a tragedy to split up the Darkstar. If you are downloading this to put on CD, keep the darkstar together as disc 3, and put the remainder on disc 4 (the OMSN encore is on the other d/l for this date). Its worth the 20 cents for the extra disc to keep the darkstar intact!

everyone download this show immediately. before it gets taken off of here and released on cd. this show will most likely be released, just like the rockin the rhein from germany. the rockin the rhein release is actually worth the purchase, and i'd even have to say this is better than that. this one of the top europe 1972 shows, if not one of the best EVER.

Lord , Lord , Lord.... I have restrained myself from reviewing this show because it is just so emotional. But here goes....It's Sunday morning and I just heard it again (I listen to it regularly). Gimme a cold one and kick my ass. "Just a touch of mojo hand" ...Expaditionary forces on a four day creep". It is obvious that Pig and his mates know that he is on the way out. If it were not for the crazy Irish SOB I would not have started appreciating the band back in 1970. This show needs more than 5 stars. Phil is playing his ass off for his old bud. Jerry is doing back-up vocals like A man on a mission. Pig is doing organ fills like he means it. Even Keith is on. Bobby's syncopation is exceptional. Billy is like Gene Krupa on ecxtacy(I know I'm a drummer) TOP 5 OFF ALLTIME. It is still a mystery to me why so many people just don't get it. These guys are the repository of American music. God Bless ALL...Peace and Love, Uncle Rich

WOW! Anything from the Europe 1972 run is as good as it gets. The magic was really with the boys overseas that spring. I have not heard anything less than spectacular from this trip. This show is a monster! I think every song you would want from this era is here. Stop reading and DL it now!!!!

This is excellent sound, after the band has a minute or two of initial sound problems, during Playing opening #. Only the piano is audible for a moment, along with Bobby and everyone's voice sailing. They straighten it out and it jams. Pigpen is in top form. This is one of the best shows of '72 imho.

Fortunately and unfortunately you can hear both Godchaulk's on this one. Keith is often inaudible and this is not the case on this one. If you're looking for a good show that highlights what Keith brought to the table, this is a good example. Also, totally agree with the earlier reviewer who lauded the strong Black Throated Wind.

Ignore his wife's screeching if you can. My advice is to replace the Playin' here with a good one from the Brent era. That way you skip Donna's pathetic wailings and maybe no one will notice when you pop this tape on during your next bong session. At least you'll be spared the poor sound quality of Playin' and also the sounds of baby seals being slaughtered... or excuse me the sound of Donna's backup "vocals".

how come darkstar is only a 2 minutes? its supposed to be 45
ha nevermind sorry

Oh MY! This is an amazing show to say the least. Only a slight bit more hiss than only the best boards, but you'll be able to look past that, especially when Phil is putting his rig in danger at the end of SSDD! (That scene in Back to the Future when Marty blows the 6 foot speaker comes to mind) I think the boys were either laughing their asses off or just thought they had better stop while they were ahead as they found themselves stumbling into Caution land. I had my hi-fi cranked and thought I was blowing my set, but no, it was just another heavy round of Phil bombs. Git it. Crank it!

No review can do this justice.

5 cowboy songs, 2 train songs, at least 4 absolute dead anthems, 4 or 5 serious rarities, a handful of jerry favorites, probably your favorite dead song is on this setlist, good cover of Who do You Love, pigpen in good form, whole band is 'on tonight in fact.... amazing reproduction quality, then remastered by bertha, never heard a bad bertha remastered show, and top it off with what is often called the best BTW ever....

Shows like this are why we need more stars to rate with, this one needs 6 or more

Absolutely an amazing show. Really enjoy the Chinatown Shuffle & Hurts Me Too. Love the blues. Great setlist. Europe '72 kid

Love these '72 shows. Great set lists on almost every one of em. Plus a lot of great Pig Pen tunes :). This show probably has one of the best versions of Black Throated Wind. A must have!!

Very nice show. A little bit historic in that this seems to be the first Jack Straw where Garcia did the "I just jumped the watchman.." lines and Weir did the "Hurt my ears to listen.." part - something I always thought sounded very good.

Kind of odd that the alternation started at the end of the Europe tour, but the earlier shows in Europe or U.S. don't do this - let me know if I'm wrong on that. Anyway, it's interesting to me and a very nice show.

probably the best in the archive. fluid melodic improvisation and a great pigpen caution -> who do you love? I'd love to find more like this.

I can't agree more, this is some of the most subtle, collaborative music I have heard, bare none. Simply the best dead show ever, top to bottom, in my experience.

Thanks Etree

Sound quality is excellent especially for a 33 year old show. There is some problem at the start but keep listening...the show is great, the first 1:30 there are some adjustments to the sound before it starts smokin!!

As an archive.org specialist, I can't recommend this show enough. Wow. It slips under the radar of all the great '72 shows. It is definitely top five of the Dead's best year.

You won't regret downloading this little secret.

This is a real classic.....the "caution>who do you love" makes you really appreiciate this band. Phil is rich in the mix and sounds great! A MUST HAVE SHOW.

wow, just download and channel it right where it needs to go...

I spent a recent afternoon listening to this show cover to cover in Washington Square Park with my friend maryjane. I saw god, or at least what I perceived to be god that day. From a great Black Throated Wind to Morning Dew to Good Lovin' to a Dark Star that is both sublime and mind-crunching all at the same time. If this show does not prove once and for all that the GD are seminal in 20th century American music (irregardles of genre)then I don't know what.

I first heard this driving up the Garden State Parkway on Princeton U's radio station coming home from the beach for the weekend and almost drove off the road I was banging the wheel so hard! I flipped because I was going out of range right into Uncle Johns...

This was the last caution and who do you love and Pig's health was failing but you would never know it from this incandescent performance... this whole show crackles like a thundercloud but it is the dark star>sugarmag>caution>whodoyoulove>truckin>unclejohns which is absolutely sizzling... never been bowled over by Paris but Bickershaw and Amsterdam and finally Rotterdam and 5/26 are the creme de la creme of this tour - I am putting 5 but this numbers cannot be measure this properly it should be on a psychic scale as well......

Whatever the boys were tapped into during Dark Star, it must have been something beyond scientific explanation and perhaps something that cannot be explained into mere words. After Bill's spirited drum solo, they segue into a jam so cacophonous, atonal and scary that it could potentially traumatize animals when played loud. The boys are possibly painting a picture in sound about a devastating hurricane making landfall and causing complete destruction for anything in its path. After the hurricane dies and loses momentum, Florida gradually returns to its normal beauty and peace ("Sugar Magnolia"). If this explanation sounds stupid in words, then listen to the last half-hour of Dark Star in a darkened room and see if you feel remotely secure.

Is this the best Dead show of all time? Maybe. I can't add much to what is said below, except to say- Dark Star, 45 minutes. This one requires your full attention, some special refreshments and a sense of wonder. There are nights when Jerry and the band reach up into an entirely new dimension of improvisation. This is one of those. Even so, the "Star" is nearly eclipsed by the extra hot Caution>Who Do You Love, the last ever for dear Pigpen. This show is a spiritual experience, a treat for the soul and the senses. A must have. I envy the lucky folks who have not yet heard this show!
Dr. Flashback ;-)

The amazing, beautiful high energy jam that emerges from space in the latter half of Dark Star is why the Dead were the originators of jam band music: applying jazz and classical principles to American rock n' roll. The communication between these guys was astounding!

As noted earlier, this monstrous Dark Star is itself worth the download, but you can definitely tell how much fun the boys are having throughout Caution. And might I add the first set Good Lovin', with a somewhat mellow groove which Pig runs with flawlessly. This one lies near the top for 72.

Do yourself a favor and check this one out.
Lots of first set fun and Dark Star thru Caution (right out of Sugar Mags) is unreal. Dig Pigpen's crazy ad libs and Jerry's accompaniment during Caution: "Turn me upside down, all around -every way but loose...Had to keep a bucket of grease by the bed." Nice. Seriously this is vintage Dead, pure fun with 'just a touch' of wickedness to keep you looking over your shoulder as you groove like a college kid with no cares in the world...again.

I'm one of those Dead fans who enjoys complaining about how scraggly and half-hearted the Dead can so often be. I constantly question my burning desire to collect as much Dead as possible only to be disappointed time and again by performances of questionable quality. When listening to recordings of shows I've been to, I wonder how I could have managed to sit through so much agonizing noodling and struggles for coherence (much less how Jerry could have managed to remain standing throughout his obviously pained efforts at making it from one tune to the next).

So, believe me when I say that this show boasts some of the most clearly outstanding reaches into the nether regions of the Dead universe that I have ever heard. The Dark Star and subsequent jamming here remind me why this band continues to hold the status of legend on this bright blue ball we call earth, and why I continue to plunder through the massive quantity of available Dead archives, spending hundreds of dollars on blank CDs, ever in hopes of finding another show like this. While there aren't many, there are enough to keep me spinning just a little bit more.